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by Georgia Consumer Services I
Thousands Poisoned At Home:
Don’t Let It Happen In Yours
Between 500,000 and 1 million people are poisoned
each year from swallowing household products. 50 %
of these are children 5 years of age or younger. Many
will die, many others will have their systems so
damaged that they will never get over it, still others
will be scarred or disfigured so badly that no amount
of plastic surgery can help them. Worse, and contrary
to popular belief, investigation has shown that most
children manage to swallow dangerous substances
when their mothers or fathers are near them. In most
cases, they are within fifteen feet. How? You say.
Because most children can swallow something faster
than the parents can get to them to take it away.
Poison Prevention Week is
March 18-24, 1973. This is the
week in which all of us should
take time to really look
around us to see which casual,
everyday products we have
left in places where they could
become a deadly weapon. Ah
Ha! Did you really leave that
bottle of aspirin on the
bedside table last night? Did
Joe really leave that bottle of
car lubricant beside the door
to the carport? (Os course, he
was planning to come back for
it right away, but somehow he
didn’t.) How could you have
missed that bottle of bleach
on the back of the drainboard
or that can of drain cleaner on
the basin? All of these, and
many more, are necessary,
useful things that give us the
good life, but could also cause
a terrible death.
One of the reasons for the
increasing number of
household poisonings is, of
course, the increasing number
of new products on the
market. Fifty years ago, there
would have been very few
products in the average
household to cause injury or
death. (Aspirin was only
invented in 1899.) Now, with
the thousands of household
cleaners, laundry products,
cosmetics and piescription and
over-the- counter medicines,
the potential hazards are
everywhere. It is up to each of
us, individually, to recognize
potentially hazardous
products, and up to us to take
steps to make sure they are
not misused. Remember, too,
it is not just children who
swallow household poisons, it
may also be the adults who get
up to take medicine or have a
drink without turning on the
light. You may be wondering,
as this writer did, how
someone could accidentally
swallow something that would
taste terrible and burn like
fire. The answer, here again, is
speed. Before the taste or pain
sensation registers on the
brain, a person can swallow
enough of the poison
substance to cause severe
injury. Other things to watch
out for, particularly where
small children are concerned,
are extremely pretty bottles
and cans, packages that look
like food containers, and
products that have sweet,
appealing smell, such as that
of fruit or candy. For
instance, in one case, a lady
was using a product that
smelled like cherries, and had
cherries on the label. The
phone rang, and she went to
answer it. Her child, thinking
the bottle contained cherry
pop, grabbed it and drank
quite a bit, despite the fact
that the phone was in the
same room. The moral here is
that if you are using a possibly
hazardous product, carry it
with you if you have to even
turn your back on a child for a
minute. In still other cases,
children have swallowed
harmful substances because
the container had a pop tab
top or even looked like a milk
carton.
Even worse than when a
product comes in a container
that attracts a child is when
you, yourself, have put a
product in a container other
than the original. In all too
many cases people report
poisonous substances in Coke
bottles or milk jugs, or puts
such things as moth balls, bug
tablets and medicines in
candy-type containers. One
case in point occurred when a
man put gasoline in an apple
juice bottle .. . nice, clear,
amber gasoline and nice, clear,
amber apple juice, get it? Well,
the child who did get it -- the
bottle that is - will spend the
better part of a year of his life
in the hospital. In the case, the
bottle exploded and the child
was burned instead of
poisoned, but the principle is
the same: Leave products in
their original containers and
teach your children what they
look like, what is in them, and
impress on them what it can
do if they swallow it or play
with it. Don’t soften it up.
Emphasize the pain and horror
they may face; it’s the best
way to get past their natural
curiosity.
Most household poisoning
occur because of carelessness,
not the blatant obvious kind,
but just because we get so
used to having certain
products around that we
forget about them.
So, just what are the most
common potential killers in
the household? According to
investigations coordinated by
the United States Food and
Drug Administration, they
are:
• Aspirin - Aspirin is the
number one cause of
household injuries. In fact,
aspirin causes more household
injuries than all the other
categories combined.
• Liquid Furniture Polish
that contains petroleum
distillates. Such products
cause “chemical pneumonia”
which is extremely painful and
almost always fatal.
• Prescriptions -- Control
drugs such as amphetamines or
barbituates . . .that means
such common things as
tranquilizers, sleeping pills and
diet pills.
• Prescriptions - Medicines
containing oil of wintergreen.
Wintergreen? Yes,
wintergreen. The kind in mints
is diluted in medicine it is a
strong depressant that can
easily bring about death if
someone takes too much.
• When giving medicine to a
child, call it medicine . Never
call it a treat or candy.
• Never store any possible
poisonous substance whether
medicine or household cleaner
in a low place.
• Whenever possible lock
medicine and storage cabinets
where you keep such
products.
•As we said before never
transfer a product from its
original container.
• Whenever possible buy
medicines or other products
that come in a safety closure
package. If you must buy such
products that do not come in
a safety closure package tape
them shut with adhesive tape.
• Never leave a child alone
even for a few seconds.
Remember they can be faster
than you are swallowing the
wrong thing.
• Never, never give medicine
prescribed for one person to
another without checking with
your doctor.
• Dispose of leftover
medicines when you are
through with them. Don’t
keep them lying around. Every
few weeks check your
drawers, medicine chests and
other ares for medicines or
other products that maybe
have been forgotten, but are
no longer needed.
• In case of poisoning call
your physician immediately.
Try to be able to tell him
exactly what has been
swallowed. Also, be sure to
give your name and address
clearly when calling. There
have been some tragic cases in
which people called for help
and were so excited that they
forgot to say who they were.
• As a general rule it is better
to dilute a substance by giving
the patient water, milk, etc.
Do not induce vomiting unless
your doctor tells you to. In
some cases this can actually
force the substance back into
the lungs, and actually make
the problem worse.
• Sodium Potassium
Hydroxide - that’s the stuff
that makes your drain cleaner
break up the hairs and oil in
the pipes. If it does that to
your pipes, think what it
would do to you. Even if it
isn’t swallowed, but merely
touches the mouth, the
persons face can be so terribly
burned that it will have to be
rebuilt, with no guarantees of
success.
• Methyl Alcohol - also
called wood or grain alcohol.
This is most commonly found
in windshield cleaners. This
kind of alcohol CANNOT be
made non-poisonous. It is not
the same as the “grain
alcohol” you see for sale to be
drunk.
• Pesticides -- Almost all of
us got fooled at least once in
our childhood by someone
pretending to eat a moth ball
that was really a round white
candy. It’s not very funny
though when the situation is
reversed. Also many rat
poisons look like candy, many
indoor and outdoor bug spfays
can cause respiratory
problems.
These are the most
important, but still only a few,
of the household products
that may cause injury or
death. While much has been
done by such organizations as
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the Food and Drug
Administration to make the
products you buy safer
through such things as the
Hazardous Substances Act,
and the regulations requiring
safety closures on such
products as aspirin, with more
to come, the main
responsibility still lies with the
users of the products. Here is
what you can do to make your
home safer for those you love.
Page 7
The 8.-anthy Enterprise, Nahunta, Ga., March 22, 1973
• Always read labels,
directions and safety
procedures. Know what is in a
product.
• If possible, do not take
medicine in front of children.
When they see you swallowing
medicine, they may want, to
do it too to be just like a
grown-up.
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LEAFY VEGETABLES
Trim leafy vegetables like
lettuce and cabbage sparingly,
suggest U. S. Department- of
Agriculture home economists.
Don’t throw away dark outer
leaves—they’re especially rich
in nutrients. Removing woody
midribs from kale leaves is a
good idea, however. There’s
little nutritive loss, and the
kale cooks more uniformly.
